(Photo Public Domain)
By Fatma Khaled
Employees at the Ministry of Antiquities gathered in front of the cabinet council on Sunday afternoon calling for the departure of the antiquities minister, Mohamed Ibrahim.
The employees met with a delegate from the cabinet and handed him a statement explaining the reasons for their demand, which included claims of corruption inside the ministry.
They also accused Ibrahim of failing to provide the ministry’s employees with an adequate health care system during his time as minister in the Hisham Qandil government.
Employees denounced the minister’s negligence in securing Egypt’s relics and historical sites during a period of prolonged nationwide security failures in 2012.
The statement condemned what it called Ibrahim’s “cover up of corruption behind restoration projects” and resultant wasted funds, and criticised his neglect for employees demands, which resulted in further deterioration.
They also criticised Ibrahim’s failure to hire fresh graduates in the ministry, claiming that he had ordered security to beat protesters during sit-ins in front of the ministry protesting this.
The statement expressed outrage towards Ibrahim’s apointment as antiquities minister after 30 June, and added that these demonstrations “have revived the revolution which was started to fight corruption.”
Ibrahim’s association with Qandil’s government under former President Mohamed Morsi was also denounced, with employees claiming he had “allowed the Muslim Brotherhood to take control of the ministry.”
Last week, the ministry’s employees gathered 50,000 signatures from antiquities employees nationwide in a petition to Prime Minister Hazem Al-Beblawi, demanding their separation from the culture ministry.
